Schedule – What’s That?!?

Last week I was on a Zoom social hour with members of SNAG. When E.D. Gwynne Ruckenbrod-Smith asked how I was doing amidst this current situation of low artwork sales and canceled workshops, I fessed up that I was just as fried as everyone else. I briefly shared about my ongoing projects on which I should be making progress with all this time in the studio, but which I can barely make myself do in the midst of stress and fear. Even the projects themselves seem weird to pursue when I don’t know if they’ll be relevant on the other side of this pandemic.

As I flitted between looking into my Mac’s camera and looking at Gwynne in the upper left of Zoom’s Brady Bunch view, I caught site of the rectangle in between. It was me, queen of creative productivity…being so very real. The funny thing about video calls is that if you look at the people you’re talking to, it looks to them that you’re staring off into the distance, so the key is too look at your camera, but that’s not as much fun.

This wasn’t typical video work. This was just all of us, live, thinking Zoom is as close as we’ll get to connecting for a long long time. I looked around at the other folks in their respective rectangles, friends, students, collectors, and colleagues, a few of whom I only know by their work. Even my fellow rock stars smiled and looked so very relieved when I admitted that I have great difficulty getting anything done either.

Slowly…ever so slowly…I’ll get it launched one day

Being real, however imperfect it feels, is a profound relief.

In that spirit, I though I’d share with you an all too typical day in the studio. Yes, I’m still in the studio 6 days/week, but before you start getting impressed, be aware that this is my favorite room in my house and the only one with a view to the backyard where my pups feel compelled to stand guard, bark at, or heard every squirrel, chipmunk, neighbor, and molecule of pollen that dares to move (and there is a lot of pollen). My sofa is in the living room next to my husband’s office. Barking Shelties are more fun than BritBox, interspersed with Chris’ many Zoom meetings.

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

8:38 am EDT Wake up and realize that I actually slept…late (Skyler had am dog duty). Lie there and remember really odd, vivid dream about a group of underserved people working in a British, Edwardian era department store, who were about to get caught ‘borrowing’ some chic accessories to go a musical variety show. (No, I gave up watching Selfridges years ago after the first season. As for the rest, I have absolutely no idea!)

8:38:30 Check email (yes, it’s a compulsion). Read half of the newsletters I subscribe to. Decide I should be as motivated as these writers and artists are…whatever.

9:12 Venture to local news sites then NPR and discover we’re definitely not alone thinking our governor is a murderous idiot,* looking to hook up his rich buddies and make us ill or kill us in the process of “opening” Georgia’s economy this week.

9:25 Be really glad I don’t color my hair (yet).

9:30 Continue obsessing over news.

9:33 Realize I have now been holding my iPhone over my head at an increasingly uncomfortable position for nearly an hour.

9:38 Realize I have now been reading emails and news for an hour and five minutes.

9:40 Get up. Find clean clothes. Shower.

10:05 Get attacked by happy puppies who have desperately missed me since Skyler coerced them off our bed and into their crates around 1:00 am last night. Hug and pet both of them. Pull them apart while they fight over who gets petted first (even though I’m petting both at the same time).

10:30 Take tea tray, thoughtfully prepped by hubby, into studio along with one of the last of two homemade sweet rolls. Take one bite and marvel over my baking skills and our ability to still get ingredients delivered.

10:33 Begin my daily ritual of trying to convince my LED lights over the drawing area to stop flashing and turn on (takes 15 minutes now), followed by my other strange new morning ritual of planning my day in my sketchbook. Yes, old school. On paper. Not an app. (Gasp!) Thanks to Carla Sonheim’s instructional video on journal boxes via Sketchbook Revival.

10:35 Think about writing things I’ll actually have the time and focus to do today rather than an aspirational to-do list of more things than I could do in a month then beating myself up later that I didn’t finish any of it. Baby steps.

10:36 Devolve into writing a future post about how our governor keeps up the Southeners-Are-Stupid stereotype. Decide this diversion is ok because my tiny fountain pen writing is crammed into the ‘write’ box on my daily journal page.

10:45 Let dogs in.

My ever growing studio sentinels Bou and Lizzie

11:15 Run out of room in the ‘write’ box and move to the ‘drawing’ box. Color spontaneous Art Deco inspired shapes with new colored pencils. There is no such thing as too many colors or types of colored pencils. Apparently Amazon thinks these are “essential items” to be given shipping priority since more will be appearing on my porch next Monday.

11:16 Wonder if it’s selfish to order more colored pencils in a pandemic.

11:20 Finally write out today’s tasks. Start with ‘this,’ meaning the box journal page, and check it off as soon as I finish. Yay! I’ve completed something. – I do this every day but Sundays, which are my days off, or as I’ve come to think of them, mental health days off from thinking I should be doing more.

11:25 Let dogs out again.

A box journal entry with a post-field-trip conceptual map of my studio in the style of a subway map

11:30 Knock on the window with a 22” ruler to stop the dogs barking incessantly. Keep journaling. Write, “Photo commissioned necklace & pack for shipping” and realize this is the very last certain thing I’ve committed to do, the last external deadline on my COVID-19 postponed horizon of promised things for other people.

11:33 Freak out a little.

11:34 Knock on the window again and send 32 oz glass of ice water flying all over in progress paintings on paper. Yes. Again!!! Scream. Send husband running in from front of house. (Wow, I must have been really loud.) Mop frantically. Freak out. Yell at dogs who are still barking probably because I was screaming. Mop more. Wonder if paintings are good enough to warrant using precious facial tissues to gingerly mop up excess water. Tissues leave less of a texture than paper towels. Think perhaps in the not too distant future I will be in more dire need of said tissues for other things, for which paper towels are also highly unsuitable.

11:49 Try to salvage what passes for focus these days.

11:51 Call back customer who got confused on my website.

12:05 Get sucked into my computer. Update all WordPress plug-ins. Remember I haven’t updated the plugins for my husband’s and my mother’s websites that I also manage. Get sucked into whatever their websites need. Pat myself on the back that all the updating makes our sites harder to hack.

12:15 Wonder why I have 23 tabs open in my internet browser. Get sucked into triaging which ones I can close. Fall down rabbit hole of incorrect link trying to find Sketchook Skool’s remote interview with urban sketcher Lapin.

12:18 Wonder how in the world urban sketchers whose work I follow are coping in quarantine. Begin falling further down the YouTube and Instagram Black Holes of Time Death.

12:30 Let dogs in. Feed them lunch.

12:40 Let dogs out again. Think about the complicated task of building doggie doors on the back door and the screened porch door. Think about teaching them how to open the screen door. Think about the scheming velociraptors in Jurassic Park. Be slightly afraid our dogs are smarter than we are.

12:46 Return missed call about rescheduling a doctor’s appointment I’ve been waiting for for four months. Return call and schedule telehealth appointment instead.

12:52 Open email with PDF of first time visit paperwork to be completed before telehealth appointment. Realize it’s from an email address that is not monitored so I can’t email it back. Wonder if I should show up at telehealth appointment next week and hold up completed paperwork for doctor to see I completed it. Think about calling back and asking, but nice as the scheduler was on the phone, think maybe the length of time it takes to get through their systems to a real person isn’t worth my reminding them of their oversight.

1:00 Discover homemade sweet roll with only one bite taken out of it. Think perhaps waiting this long to eat breakfast is a bad idea. Think, perhaps a sweet roll isn’t really a healthy breakfast. Think who cares?!? It’s delicious even now slightly stale.

2:58 Time for lunch. Think it’s got to get better from here. Remember I think that about every day around this time.

Rinse.

Repeat.

How’s your day? Feel free to post below.

“Never be afraid of who you are,” a banner I recently hung up that I created after seeing Star Wars IX. Leah says this to Rey the last time they see each other. I’m hoping Disney’s copyright stringent legal team will let this fly under the radar since I don’t take on commissioned banners, the current climate requires more compassion, and it’s not entirely original dialogue (even if brilliant).Gouache, graphite, ink on TyvekThanks to Loredana Zega for teaching me to adapt my original ‘Varabian’ script into a brush lettering style

*Governor Kemp, dude, besides your needing to embrace science already, stop referring to people with asthma, diabetes, and otherwise manageable underlying conditions as “medically fragile.” Bet you couldn’t do half of what I do, with asthma mind you, if your life depended on it. I am not fragile. I am “at high risk for acute COVID-19.” Learn and say the difference. I’m sure Stacey Abrams can. But then, there’s a lot she can handle that you clearly can’t…like being ethical…or actually being elected.

Praise for Giving Voice: “Remarkable Work”

I love Giving Voice. This remarkable, inspiring and unique book is a magical journey unlike any other and is beautifully done. Rich colors and patterns metamorphise into stunnning images created by reknown artist Victoria Lansford. Her words dance and flow across the pages filled with insightful thoughts and expressions. The music is contemplative, sophistocated and lovely. I would highly recommend this book as a gift to others or for one’s self.

RogueJoan via Apple Books

Victoria lansford

2018-11-22T17:37:11-05:00

RogueJoan via Apple Books

I love Giving Voice. This remarkable, inspiring and unique book is a magical journey unlike any other and is beautifully done. Rich colors and patterns metamorphise into stunnning images created by reknown artist Victoria Lansford. Her words dance and flow across the pages filled with insightful thoughts and expressions. The music is contemplative, sophistocated and lovely. I would highly recommend this book as a gift to others or for one’s self.

https://victorialansford.com/testimonials/roguejoan/

Praise for Giving Voice: “Amazing”

Giving Voice is what ‘multimedia’ is supposed to be! Visual art, music, and spoken word brought together in a complementary manner. Whether you're checking out a few pages to get a quick pick-me-up of pen, ink, and piano, or parking yourself in one spot to lose yourself in the gestalt, or doing something in between, you’ll find something new inside to keep coming back to.

Anonymous via Apple Books

Victoria lansford

2018-11-22T17:41:05-05:00

Anonymous via Apple Books

Giving Voice is what ‘multimedia’ is supposed to be! Visual art, music, and spoken word brought together in a complementary manner. Whether you're checking out a few pages to get a quick pick-me-up of pen, ink, and piano, or parking yourself in one spot to lose yourself in the gestalt, or doing something in between, you’ll find something new inside to keep coming back to.

https://victorialansford.com/testimonials/amazing/

“Victoria is a true artist and shares her gift teaching with patience, passion, good humor, and enthusiasm…”

I just spent the most wonderful week-end with one of the best teachers that I have ever had the pleasure of learning from. Victoria is a true artist and shares her gift teaching with patience, passion, good humor, and enthusiasm...she has an infectious laugh, and you can't help laughing with her while she encourages you to achieve levels of skill that you didn't know you had. 11 other jewelry students and myself came into her workshop on Saturday having never picked up a hammer to do repousse ever before and all learned more from her in this one weekend than we thought possible. She spent time with each of us, pointing out better ways to solve whatever problems that we were having pushing the metal around to make it do our bidding. Victoria, I can't wait until you come back to us!

Patti D'Arbanville
Artist, Actress

Victoria lansford

2017-11-06T18:03:04-05:00

Patti D'Arbanville
Artist, Actress

I just spent the most wonderful week-end with one of the best teachers that I have ever had the pleasure of learning from. Victoria is a true artist and shares her gift teaching with patience, passion, good humor, and enthusiasm...she has an infectious laugh, and you can't help laughing with her while she encourages you to achieve levels of skill that you didn't know you had. 11 other jewelry students and myself came into her workshop on Saturday having never picked up a hammer to do repousse ever before and all learned more from her in this one weekend than we thought possible. She spent time with each of us, pointing out better ways to solve whatever problems that we were having pushing the metal around to make it do our bidding. Victoria, I can't wait until you come back to us!

https://victorialansford.com/testimonials/patti-darbanville/

“It’s beyond beautiful…”

No painting, song, or sculpture had ever moved me like your art did. It's beyond beautiful, I cannot describe my feelings. Each piece is so organic, they look alive. Each one left me with different feelings, mostly: wonder, amazement, happiness, and curiosity. Some even a soft anger or loss. But each one left me emotionally rolled. You're work is....life changing. I've finally heard the thundering beacon of what I want for my future. And that is to someday be as an amazing of an artist as you.

I thank you so much for what you do.

Alexandria Reyes
Phoenix, AZ

Victoria lansford

2017-11-06T18:30:18-05:00

Alexandria Reyes
Phoenix, AZ

No painting, song, or sculpture had ever moved me like your art did. It's beyond beautiful, I cannot describe my feelings. Each piece is so organic, they look alive. Each one left me with different feelings, mostly: wonder, amazement, happiness, and curiosity. Some even a soft anger or loss. But each one left me emotionally rolled. You're work is....life changing. I've finally heard the thundering beacon of what I want for my future. And that is to someday be as an amazing of an artist as you. I thank you so much for what you do.

https://victorialansford.com/testimonials/alexandria-reyes/

“I wish to compliment you on the wonderful DVD you and your production crew produced to introduce your method, knowledge, and vision for Russian Filigree…”

I wish to compliment you on the wonderful DVD you and your production crew produced to introduce your method, knowledge, and vision for Russian Filigree. The DVD demonstrates, so honestly, your dedication, skill and techniques that you have given to master this artful jewelry. You hold back nothing and give so much. This is the best teaching DVD that I have purchased in a long time. Thank you once more for the opportunity to learn from you.Cordially,

Dolores Lewis
Dean Emeritus Moore College of Art

Victoria lansford

2017-11-06T17:52:13-05:00

Dolores Lewis
Dean Emeritus Moore College of Art

I wish to compliment you on the wonderful DVD you and your production crew produced to introduce your method, knowledge, and vision for Russian Filigree. The DVD demonstrates, so honestly, your dedication, skill and techniques that you have given to master this artful jewelry. You hold back nothing and give so much. This is the best teaching DVD that I have purchased in a long time. Thank you once more for the opportunity to learn from you. Cordially,

https://victorialansford.com/testimonials/dolores-lewis/

“In Japan, Victoria would be considered a national treasure…”

Victoria teaches techniques used for millennia to create many of the great works of art one can see in museums. Though these techniques had fallen into disuse due to their labor intensive nature, Victoria has found many tricks that streamline and improve the processes, and she uses them to make strikingly contemporary pieces rooted in the ancient world.

One will never go into a hardware store with the same mind set again. Students are given a series of challenges and opportunities to grow their own inner voices and are encouraged to create works unique to them, at their levels of ability.

The number of places one can learn these skills in the US can be counted conveniently on one's thumbs. In Japan, Victoria would be considered a national treasure, and she would be funded to pass these skills on to the next generation.

Al Boyers, Metalsmith

Victoria lansford

2017-11-06T18:06:31-05:00

Al Boyers, Metalsmith

Victoria teaches techniques used for millennia to create many of the great works of art one can see in museums. Though these techniques had fallen into disuse due to their labor intensive nature, Victoria has found many tricks that streamline and improve the processes, and she uses them to make strikingly contemporary pieces rooted in the ancient world. One will never go into a hardware store with the same mind set again. Students are given a series of challenges and opportunities to grow their own inner voices and are encouraged to create works unique to them, at their levels of ability. The number of places one can learn these skills in the US can be counted conveniently on one's thumbs. In Japan, Victoria would be considered a national treasure, and she would be funded to pass these skills on to the next generation.

https://victorialansford.com/testimonials/al-boyers/

“by the way in which you have brought it to light, it takes a refreshing approach in a learning and applicable direction….”

It is a very old technology of course, but by the way in which you have brought it to light, it takes a refreshing approach in a learning and applicable direction. This is good for the learning curve of the students in the jewelry arts, to show that we should respect the artisans and their contributions from much earlier times, and not to get caught up in just the "new" methods of application and materials.

Chris Hullinger, Metalsmith

Victoria lansford

2017-11-06T17:51:18-05:00

Chris Hullinger, Metalsmith

It is a very old technology of course, but by the way in which you have brought it to light, it takes a refreshing approach in a learning and applicable direction. This is good for the learning curve of the students in the jewelry arts, to show that we should respect the artisans and their contributions from much earlier times, and not to get caught up in just the "new" methods of application and materials.